A break from Cordoba with some recent tree sketches, rural and urban. The first two are of an old mossy oak in a wood of mostly Scots Pine, done a couple of months apart. Then a tree in Queen’s Square in Bath. It’s hard to know where to stop with trees, the branches keep on branching, smaller and smaller…
PS: On Sunday 26th April there’s a sketchcrawl in Bristol, meeting at 11.30am outside the Arnolfini. Details in the PDF below. Hope to see you there!
Brown Pigma pen, Lexington grey and Noodlers Brown 41 in water-brush, watercolour, A4/A5 – one hour each
Noodlers Brown 41 in fountain pen and water-brush, dilute Lexington grey in water-brush, A5 – 30 minutes
Mostly drawing 
You’ve done a brilliant job capturing the details of texture on the bark, I am smitten with that mossy oak.
Thanks Mel, lot of blind tiny scribbles with the thin Pigma pen, feeling out the bumpiness! Ed
Fantastic trees, but I particularly admire the background, especially the addition of light to the darker paper. Also, I hope you don’t mind me asking, do you only draw/paint in sketch books and only for yourself? and! do you sketch standing up or do you carry a stool for times when there is nothing to lean on? Somebody told me Barbara Rae paints in her car over her steering wheel – though I don’t know if this is strictly true!
Hi Rowena, with toned paper you get can great contrast with a few patches of white gouache or white water-colour. For some reason it’s more dramatic/dynamic than leaving pale patches on white paper… All my drawings and sketches are in sketchbooks, and I work in one book at a time until it’s full. It’s all just for me, for pleasure, and not commissioned or for work/study, if that’s what you mean? And I usually find somewhere to sit (I carry a piece of Karrimat to make walls/ground comfier), but am happy sketching standing as I work fairly fast; the bigger A5 sketchbook helps as it’s a more stable drawing surface. I’ve got a folding ruler that goes behind the book and clips onto the pages to hold it open, which is also useful. I’ve got a tiny folding stool, but hardly ever use it; there’s usually something to perch on in town. Hunched over a steering wheel sounds uncomfy! Plein air for me… Ed
Many Thanks for sharing Ed. Your sketches are truly fantastic and it’s wonderful we get to see them too! Thanks for the tips; already hunting the house for a folding ruler I know exists here-somewhere! By the way I tried a bit of cafe drawing, I think I was staring a bit too much as I was rumbled! Will persevere!
Maybe follow Mark’s approach and start with their shoes! Ed